William R. Chemerka lives in East Hanover, New Jersey, and teaches American
History, and Economics at Madison High School, in Madison, New Jersey. He has
received many teaching awards over the years, and his students are fortunate
to have such a dedicated educator. One of his major historical interests is
the Texas Revolution, especially the Battle of the Alamo. He received a Geraldine
Rockefeller Dodge Grant for the study of "New Jersey's Role in the Texas Revolution."
In 1986, Chemerka founded The Alamo Society, which he still heads. He edits
the Society's official quarterly publication, The Alamo Journal. Every
year, on the weekend nearest to 6 March, the date of the Alamo's fall, you will
find Chemerka hosting the annual Alamo Society Symposium. Those who frequent
Alamo de Parras know him as the Educational Consultant, and the frequent contributor
of the Alamo Trivia page.

Alamo Almanac & Book of Lists was a natural culmination of
Chemerka's long love affair with the Alamo. He divided his book into four
sections, each of which stands independently. Beginning with the "Introduction:
The Texas Revolution," a succinct account of the history of the revolution,
it proves to be an amazing amount of information packed into just twelve
pages of text. An "Alamo Chronology" follows. This is a list of important
dates from 1519, when Spain lay claimed to the area that is now Texas,
to 1997, when the DRT and the Alamo Committee erected the Wall of History
at the Alamo.

The largest section is "The Alamo from A to Z," a virtual encyclopedia
of everything related to the Alamo of history, and of popular culture.
In this section, Chemerka gives brief biographies of the Alamo defenders,
thumbnail reviews of Alamo books, and movies; in short, just about anything
you ever wanted to know. Chemerka provides a source for many of the entries,
to point the reader to additional information. An example from one of the
entries will illustrate this better than my description:

EIGENAUER, CONRADGerman-born Alamo defender not currently acknowledged as one who participated
in the thirteen-day siege and battle (see Thomas R. Lindley: "A Correct
List of Alamo Patriots" in The Alamo Journal, #89, December 1993).

I have already written to the Alamo Library for copies of two of the articles
cited. For many of the books cited, Mr. Chemerka tells how the death of David
Crockett is dealt with, which I found especially interesting. For example:

STORY OF THE ALAMO, THEArie M. Claiborne's 1901 book. Of Crockett's death: "Crockett too fell
early in the fight, but he left near him a little mound of the dead that
he had slain."

Chemerka also provides information on some of the best-known current researchers
and experts on the Alamo. Some, such as Stephen L. Hardin, Kevin Young,
and Gary Zaboly, will be familiar to devoted surfers of the Alamo de Parras
web site.

The final section is "Alamo Lists," covering such esoteric topics as:

NAMES THAT SHOULD BE ADDED to the list of Alamo defenders, according to research
conducted by Thomas Ricks Lindley

BEST ALAMO ACTORS, from a 1989 Alamo Society poll - Fess Parker beat out John
Wayne for the best Davy Crockett

TEXAS GOVERNORS WHO HAD BROTHERS IN ALAMO MOVIES - there were two.

Alamo Almanac contains some fantastic illustrations, by Gary Zaboly,
John Bourdage, Joseph Musso, and Craig Covner, among others. Rod Timanus
did two fine diagrams of the Alamo, showing the Mexican assault columns.
Unfortunately, in my copy of the book, the right side of the text is missing
from the first map, but that did not detract significantly from the value
of the diagram.

William Chemerka provides a fascinating look at the Alamo, both of history
and of popular culture. For a newcomer to Alamo history, Alamo Almanac
will point the way for further reading. Those who already have a well-stocked
Alamo library should make an effort to find a little extra room on the shelf
for this unpretentious little volume. There is a lot of information packed into
its pages.